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Cipriani withdrawal “nothing serious”

Danny Cipriani’s early exit from Wasps’ win over Northampton on Saturday was no major cause for concern according to director of rugby Dai Young.

Wasps went on to win the match at Franklin’s Gardens 20-12, with Kyle Eastmond replacing Cipriani and Jimmy Gopperth reverting to his natural position of fly-half.

“It was nothing serious when he went off,” said Young.

“He went off for a head check and we just made the call pretty much.

“I haven’t spoken to the doctor whether he’s OK or not. With Kyle on the bench as well, we were probably five or 10 minutes away from making a substitute anyway.

“We’ve only got two 10s so we’re not going to risk anything. He went off for a test and I called it even before we had any clarification whether he’s alright or not. He’ll still have to go through all the protocols and everything but he’s fine in the dressing room there now.

“It wasn’t a case that the message got to us that it’s a permanent change. I made that call even before we got there really.

Cipriani provided a moment of magic in the build-up to Gopperth’s try, chipping out of his own 22 and regathering before Gopperth was put away for a length of the field score – with the try coming at a key moment after persistent pressure from Northampton on the Wasps defence.

“Danny’s got real X-Factor,” Young added.

“It was great vision on the short side. A little bit of gas first to get through the players, lovely little chip through and gather, good link play by Guy Thompson and obviously real hard by Jimmy to get on his shoulder and run for his life to get to the line really.

“I thought that was pretty much us first half. We were playing on the counter-punch really.”